Mrs. Fields Famous Brands is a franchisor in the snack food industry, with Mrs. Fields and TCBY as its core brands. Through its franchisees’ retail stores, it is one of the largest retailers of freshly baked, on-premises specialty cookies and brownies in the United States[3] and the largest retailer of soft-serve frozen yogurt with live active cultures in the country.[3] In addition, it operates a gifts and branded retail business, entering into many licensing arrangements. Its franchise systems includes over 300 franchised and licensed locations throughout the United States and in 22 other countries. The company also offers retail grocery products and a gifting catalog under the name of Mrs. Fields Gifts. Mrs. Fields is headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado.[4]

Contents

Mrs. Fields Cookies was founded by Debbi Fields (b. 1956, Oakland, California) in the late 1970s. She and her husband, Randall K. Fields, opened their first of many stores in 1977 in Palo Alto, California, selling homemade-style cookies which quickly grew in popularity. In 1982, Mrs. Fields moved their headquarters to Park City, Utah.[5] In the early 1990s, the company was sold to an investment firm.

In 2007, Mrs. Fields celebrated its 30th anniversary with a national search for a new cookie. Chandler, Arizona resident Carrie Lawrence's recipe for "Oatmeal Peanut Butter Scotchies" was chosen over 700 other recipe entries as Mrs. Fields' 30th Anniversary Cookie in August 2007.

In May 2012, Mrs. Fields announced it was moving its headquarters to the Denver area in Colorado. According to then CEO Tim Casey, the move was due to the fact that "Many casual/quick service franchise companies were launched from and are based in Denver, making it an ideal environment..."[6]

In the late 80's a recipe circulated through the mail that claimed to contain the secret recipe for Mrs. Fields chocolate chip cookies along with a story that the recipe was purchased from one of the cookie stores for $250. However the recipe was a fake and the story that accompanied it was adapted from an urban legend attached to recipes for cookies from Neiman Marcus and Waldorf-Astoria for red velvet cake.[8]

In response to the chain letter, a sign attributed to Debbi Fields was posted in Mrs. Fields stores:

Mrs. Fields recipe has never been sold. There is a rumor circulating that the Mrs. Fields Cookie recipe was sold to a woman at a cost of $250. A chocolate-chip cookie recipe was attached to the story. I would like to tell all my customers that this story is not true, this is not my recipe and I have not sold the recipe to anyone. Mrs. Fields recipe is a delicious trade secret.

Since early 2006, Mrs. Fields has seen several rounds of layoffs as a result of restructuring efforts. Loss of personnel was due in part to the sale of three of the company's brands. In August 2007, Nexcen Brands, Inc. purchased the Pretzel Time and Pretzelmaker concepts from Mrs. Fields Famous Brands. Great American Cookies was then sold to Nexcen in February 2008.[9]

June 5, 2008 – Mrs. Fields announced plans to begin efforts to restructure their debt by offering a deal to current bondholders. The plan also included the option of filing a prepackaged bankruptcy in the event enough noteholders didn't agree to the offer.[10]

July 10, 2008 – Stephen Russo resigns as CEO. On July 15, 2008, the Board of Managers of the Company appointed Michael R. Ward and John Lauck as Interim Co-Chief Executive Officers to fill the role vacated by Stephen Russo.[11]

August 15, 2008 – Mrs. Fields Famous Brands announced plans to implement a prepackaged Plan of Reorganization and file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[12]